


Golden Memories

by devilinthedetails



Series: A Hundred Reflections of the Elements [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, Loneliness, Loss, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: Zuko, Mai, and their golden memories through the years.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: A Hundred Reflections of the Elements [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881241
Kudos: 16





	Golden Memories

Misty-Eyed 

Mai wept quietly beneath the soothing shade of a paulownia tree after Azula had reduced her new doll to cinders.

“Why are you crying?” Zuko’s voice was the first warning she had of his presence, and she was annoyed at her own sobs for drowning out the sound of his feet on the pebbled path. 

“I’m not crying.” Mai swiped at her red-rimmed eyes. “Ladies don’t cry, my mother says. My eyes only got misty.” 

“My mother says everyone cries, and tears were made to wash our hurt away.” Zuko sat beside her, more comforting than the paulownia tree. 

Lonely Letter

Mai’s eyes were so misty she couldn’t read her father’s letter from prison. 

“Do you think he’s lonely in prison?” Mai hated the words as soon as she’d spoken them to Zuko. 

“Prison is lonely.” Zuko’s jaw tightened. “I could grant him clemency if you wish.” 

“No.” Mai shook her head. “He deserves to rot in prison for kidnapping all those children, among them his own son.” 

“I just wonder what I’m doing, Mai.” Zuko tore at his hair. “Destroying our families.”

“Our fathers destroyed our families, not you.” Fiercely, Mai ripped the letter and burned it on a brazier. 

Spark of Life

“The flames reflected in your eyes mirror your fiery temperament perfectly.” Mai, watching flames dance in her boyfriend’s gaze, felt inspired to poetry.

“When people say someone has a fiery temperament, they’re referring to a hot temper, a blazing hatred, or an all-consuming passion.” Zuko frowned as if she’d offered him an insult instead of a compliment. “It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of fire. Fire isn’t about destruction. It’s about creation—the spark of life.” 

“That’s what I meant.” Mai responded to his brooding in a teasing tone. “I see the spark of life in your eyes.”   
Golden Accents

As the golden sun set, Zuko knelt before Mai. He extended a ring golden as the dying sun to her, asking the most beautiful question: “Will you marry me, Mai?”

Mai’s heart fluttered in her chest. An eternity later, she found the breath to reply, “Yes.” 

He slid the ring around her finger, slipped his arms around her waist, and spun her around in ecstasy.

“When I’m the Fire Lord’s wife”—Mai punctuated each word with a kiss on his lips that tasted like sunlight—“I’ll have to wear clothes with golden accents. This means an upheaval for my wardrobe.” 

Undying Avatar

“I’m sorry Aang is dead.” Mai stroked her husband’s shaking back.“It seems so impossible that he is gone. Even when I was trying to kill the Avatar with Azula, I never truly believed that he would die. Somehow he seemed undying to me.” 

“The Avatar has died and been reborn a thousand times.” Tears shone in Zuko’s eyes. “In that sense, I suppose he is undying but he won’t be the same in his next incarnation.” 

By the same, Mai understood that he meant the next Avatar would not be the elusive enemy who had become a trusted friend.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Mai's father being arrested is borrowed from the "Smoke and Shadow" comics. I like to imagine Zuko and Mai getting together again after the events in those comics.


End file.
